What five January signings will add to their teams

A look at what January signings Luis Diaz, Bruno Guimaraes, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Wout Weghorst will add to Liverpool, Newcastle, Tottenham and Burnley respectively.

The January window is the time for teams to make the improvements they feel they need to achieve their aims for that season but also potentially look more to the long term as players become available that perhaps weren't six months previously. This window was no different.

While there were no massive-level signings - those are usually reserved for the summer anyway - these five transfers are sure to pay their new teams back with exactly what they need, and then some.

Luis Diaz - Liverpool

2021-22 season with Porto

Games: 18

Goal: 14

Assists: 4

Liverpool have a clear transfer plan, which is to find the successors to Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino. They already have Firmino's in the shape of Jota, who is already replacing the Brazilian, and now they have their Mane successor in Luis Diaz.

Diaz is in the middle of his breakthrough season, having provided 14 goals and four assists from just 18 games at Porto. The Reds noticed his talent when they faced off in the Champions League group stage and saw the guy they need.

What he brings to Liverpool is good creative play going forward. Per 90 minutes, he has a rate of 2.91 dribbles completed successfully, putting him in the 93rd percentile for the past 365 days versus other players in his position. For comparison, his new team-mate Mo Salah, considered to be one of the world’s best, has a rate of 1.74 per 90 minutes, putting him in the 54th percentile.

 

Bruno Guimaraes - Newcastle United

2021-22 season with Lyon

Games: 20

Goal: 0

Assists: 3

Bruno Guimaraes is a strong acquisition for Newcastle. The first big signing of their new-money era, the Magpies secured his signature when other, higher-profile teams were also interested.

Guimaraes is a real all-rounder as a midfielder. His ability to progress the ball through his dribbling or passing is statistically up there with the best in Europe, while his defensive stats are also exceedingly strong.

The main points being that, when his stats are compared with other midfielders, he is in the top 98th percentile for progressive passes and carries per 90 mins over the past 365 days. He also has a rate of 3.50 shot-creating actions per 90 mins, which has him in the 96th percentile.

And as for his defensive stats, his 3.67 tackles per 90 mins puts him in the 96th percentile. If that doesn’t immediately impress you, consider that Gini Wijnaldum, a former Newcastle player who was very sought-after last summer and eventually signed with PSG, has 0.73 per 90 mins.

 

Dejan Kulusevski - Tottenham Hotspur

2021-22 season with Juventus

Games: 20

Goal: 1

Assists: 3

After having Adama Traore and Luis Diaz snatched from their grasp, Tottenham recovered to make two vital signings from Juventus, one of which being this young, versatile Swede.

Kulusevski has admitted himself that he needs to improve in shooting more often as well as scoring more. But while his four goals in 35 games last season may not seem too great, it must be considered that he only started 19 of those games. And, statistically, he out-performed his xG.

His goals per 90 minutes saw him at 0.19, which is up 0.04 on his xG per 90 mins. And his four goals scored for the campaign is up on his 2.9 xG for the season.

It should also be said that in his one proper starting opportunity when he was at Parma for the 2019-20 season, he played 36 games, started 33 of them and bagged himself 10 goals and eight assists.

Given the opportunity, Kulusevski has the potential to make a significant impact for Spurs.

 

Rodrigo Bentancur - Tottenham Hotspur

2021-22 season with Juventus

Games: 19

Goal: 0

Assists: 1

Rodrigo Bentancur is the second of the Juventus pairing that arrived in north London. After letting go of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, Spurs needed a more central midfielder.

Bentancur is more of a deep-lying midfielder who will slip neatly into Conte’s midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, which will enable the Dane to go up a bit more without real consequence, as Bentancur is more than capable of cleaning up in the middle by himself.

Bentancur is in the 92nd percentile for interceptions, his rate sitting at 2.48 per 90 mins. He also has 22.81 pressures per game, which is a good stat to know because it shows his intentions to press wherever the ball is.

He is a strong midfielder that Conte will definitely be able to find effective use for.

 

Wout Weghorst - Burnley

2021-22 season with Wolfsburg

Games: 18

Goal: 6

Assists: 1

This one is the literal definition of a big move. Weghorst stands at over 6ft 5in, so all Burnley need to do is whip the ball into the middle and half the time it’ll end up in the back of the net. 

In the three full seasons Weghorst played for Wolfsburg, he scored 53 goals in 100 games. Even including this season’s stats, which are a bit down at least partly due to Wolfsburg having an absolute shocker, he’s netted another six in 18. He’s notched 19 assists across those 100 games too, giving him an impressive 72 direct goal contributions.

Weghorst will fit right in at Burnley, as the way they play, in particular the way they attack, always suit a big man in the middle who can play as a true target man and has good aerial ability - or in this case, just stand tall and let the bounce of his head and towards the goal.